George Bernard Shaw's 'Major Barbara,' at the Astor, Seen as a Triumph - - 'Lady From Louisiana' Presented at Loew's Criterion. Produced in a war- wracked England against odds which only the stiffest courage could lick, Gabriel Pascal's delightful picture- version of Bernard Shaw's . To call it a manifest triumph would be arrant stinginess with words. For this is something more than just a brilliant and adult translation of a stimulating play, something more than a captivating compound of ironic humor and pity. This is a lasting memorial to the devotion of artists working under fire, a permanent proof for posterity that it takes more than bombs to squelch the English wit. Comment: Penguin Books; Penguin Books; 1941; softcover; 152 pp, front end page softcover, good contents & wraps. Eclipse Series 20: George Bernard Shaw. George Bernard Shaw’s breezy. It is as wry and impudent a satire of conventional morals and social creeds as though it had been made in a time of easy and carefree peace. It is, in short, a more triumphant picture than any the British have yet sent across. To be sure, the major part of . Shaw presented to the London stage in 1. Long ago it was acted on Broadway—in 1. And the still abundant Shavian idolaters know it like the backs of their hands. Yet for all its comparative antiquity, for all our long acquaintance with its theme, it still has the cogent vitality of an essay struck off only yesterday. It comes to grips with a problem—the problem of the human soul versus poverty—which is quite as perplexing today as it was back in 1. And it is this major part of . Pascal has fully and faithfully brought to the screen. As a matter of fact, this screen version probably does better by the play than was ever done by it on the stage, even with Mr. Shaw cracking the whip. For, according to most—of the recorders, it was static and wordy on the stage, inclining to sag in those stretches where the author shook most weight out of his pen. By some careful and thoroughly respectful editing, by moving his cameras artfully about and by badgering Mr. Shaw into writing two or three new connecting sequences, Mr. Pascal has given the film that terseness and illusion of motion which films must have. In the process he has pointed the wit which crackles in Mr. Shaw's lines and has made more apparent the conflict which is joined rather loosely in the play. If, by a possible chance, it should not prove too popular all around, the reason will probably be that Mr. Shaw's wit is still too nimble and his reasoning too bold and abstruse. It takes a powerful lot of listening to follow his logistic line, and the intellect is addressed much more vigorously than are the romantic sentiments. In the previous Shaw film, . Pascal also produced, an essentially personal complication was impishly satirized. In this one the issue is much broader and cuts across more vital social lines.
Major Barbara, the earnest young daughter of the cannon- maker, Andrew Undershaft, is a morally righteous creature who is zealous about saving souls, and through her work in the Salvation Army she feels her efforts properly spent. And the drama—or what there is of it—in the picture is obliquely derived through Barbara's disillusion with the Army when she finds it will take money from her dad; and then from her final persuasion that poverty is the greatest crime of all, that money properly administered is essential to the softening of the soul. It is in this exquisite social paradox that Mr. Shaw's agile wit finds much fun, and also a share of poignant feeling for the idealistic girl who must be shown. He is, of course, at his best when putting words into the mouth of Undershaft, the sardonic philosopher, or poking around among the riff- raff of a London East End shelter. Pascal, who has directed, and his completely superlative cast have brought it to vibrant life. Wendy Hiller plays Major Barbara with all the starry- eyed exaltation, all the heartbreak and eventual relief of a girl who endures a real soul- shattering trial. Robert Morley is deliciously satanic, profoundly suave and tender, too, as the devil's disciple, Undershaft. Rex Harrison plays Adolphus Cusins, Barbara's professorial fianc. Other fine performances are given by Donald Calthrop as a wretched down- and- outer, Emlyn Williams as an unctuous dead- beat, Marie Ault as a shrill and wrinkled toss- pot and Torin Thatcher as a fighting soul- saver. And, likewise, a word must be spoken for the acting of Mr. In a highly amusing and deeply affecting introduction which the bearded author speaks for his film, he irrevocably presents himself as a warm, genial, altogether winning exponent of the human race. Rent Major Barbara (1941). George Bernard Shaw's satiric wit proves eternally relevant in this classic adaptation of his exceptional play. George Bernard Shaw (* 26. Eine kritische Studie . Perhaps the old fellow has a temper; perhaps he is as cantankerous as he used to try to be. But thanks to this little preface—and to the greater joy we have found in his works—G. Wendy Hiller. Adolphus Cusins . Rex Harrison. Andrew Undershaft . Robert Morley. Bill Walker . Robert Newton. Snobby Price . Sybil Thorndike. Jenny Hill . Penelope Dudley- Ward. Lady Britomart . Walter Hudd. Rummy Mitchens . Marie Ault. Peter Shirley . Donald Calthrop. Morrison . Miles Malleson. Todger Fairmile .
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